Successfully Completed LGBTQ+ School of Activism
During the past week, we held the first LGBTQ+ Activism School for nine participants from various cities across Serbia, who had the opportunity to spend four days learning from distinguished lecturers about different aspects of activist work and the struggle to improve the position of LGBTQ+ people in Serbia.
Participants learned about public advocacy from Vladimir Pavlović, Program Director at the Belgrade Open School; they attended a lecture by Dragoslava Barzut, Public Policy Program Manager at Civic Initiatives, on the history of the LGBTQ+ movement, as well as on public gatherings, protests, and civil disobedience. Aleksa Krstić, Program Coordinator at the Heartefact Institute, spoke about intersectionality and the connection between the LGBTQ+ movement and other movements and social groups.
From Bojan Lazić, Executive Director of our Association, participants learned about legal mechanisms for the protection of LGBTQ+ people, while special attention was given to preserving the mental health of activists, a topic covered by psychologist and psychotherapist Jelena Zulević. The school concluded with an empowerment workshop led by our associates from the psychological support team, Sofija Komar and Anđela Nikolić.
This school represents an important step in channeling the enthusiasm of activists into concrete actions, by providing them with the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to articulate their activist ideas. In the activists who completed the LGBTQ+ Activism School, we see the future leaders of our movement—those who will continue the fight in new and courageous ways to create a society where there is room for everyone and where each person has the opportunity to realize their full potential and authenticity.
We are delighted to announce that next year we will open applications for the next generation of participants of the LGBTQ+ Activism School and we look forward to working with new activists.
The LGBTQ+ Activism School was supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
